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Davos day 2: Kissinger jokes Britain is in Europe

Davos veteran and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger got the ball rolling on Thursday in Switzerland in what is gearing up to be another distinctly European-flavored day in the mountain resort.

People walk past a video monitor displaying a speech by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, during a session at the World Economic Forum. Johannes Eisele, AFP/Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, Helene Gayle, president and CEO of Care USA, Queen Rania of Jordan, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, UK, pose for photographers on Jan. 24 at the end of a session. Michel Euler, AP

Actress Charlize Theron speaks after receiving the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum. The award honors artists who have used their talent to improve the state of the world. Theron has done extensive work to highlight AIDS research and education in her native South Africa. Johannes Eisele, AFP/Getty Images

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Day No. 2 at the Swiss forum for global leaders is underway

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger follows Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's speech at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland.(Photo: Anja Niedringhaus AP)

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Davos veteran and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger got the ball rolling on Thursday in Switzerland in what is gearing up to be another distinctly European-flavored day in the mountain resort.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and George Osborne, the U.K.'s treasury secretary, are all on today's program. Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny addressed the euro crisis.

Ahead of that, though, Kissinger, appearing for his upteempth time at the gathering of global luminaries, gave his own wide-ranging assessment of the state of the world in response to questions from Davos founder Klaus Schwab.

Kissinger spoke about Syria, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, the Israel-Palestinian conflict and more.

On the Middle East: "For one thing, it (the Middle East) is a system in which many of the states were artificially created at the end of the first world war."

On nuclear powers: "Pakistan has demonstrated enormous sophistication in developing nuclear weapons and could become a source of proliferation in the region."

The current conflict in Syria, Kissinger said, can be resolved if the U.S. and Russia were to sponsor an agreement that other countries would also back.

On Iran: "The Iranians need to understand that if they keep using the negotiations to gain time to complete a nuclear program the situation will become extremely dangerous … The danger is that nuclear weapons become almost conventional."

On U.S.-China relations: "They will interact with each other everywhere … These countries will conduct an increasing rivalry."

Kissinger also said that President Obama was not his first choice in the last election.

On the future of Europe: "One underlying problem is what sacrifices can be asked of populations …The cohesion of Europe depends on the willingness to make sacrifices by those immediately concerned … What needs to be resolved is the relationship between austerity and growth … Whatever happens, the idea of European unity needs to be resolved … Europe needs to be maintained as an ideal even if the ideal solutions don't exist."

Kissinger joked that when he talks about Europe, he is talking about Britain, too.

Enter British Prime Minister David Cameron, attending Davos for his seventh consecutive time.

Cameron, in his speech, launched straight into North Africa and the terrorist attack last week in Algeria.

"We must be tough, we must be intelligent and we must be patient," Cameron said.

"The French are right to act in Mali and I back that action, not just with words but with logistical support, too," he added.

Then, the proverbial elephant in the room: Europe.

In a speech in London on Wednesday, Cameron said that if his government were to be re-elected in 2015 he would give his nation the option to opt out of the European Union in an in/out referendum.

British Prime Minister David Cameron says he will offer citizens a vote on whether to leave the European Union if his party wins the next election expected in 2015. (Jan. 23)
AP

"This is not about turning our backs on Europe," Cameron said in Davos on Thursday. "The club we belong to is changing," he said, insisting that Britain needs to re-think its relationship to the union. He then went on to talk about his views on capitalism and set out his agenda for the U.K's G8 presidency. A big theme of that will be taxes, he said.

Away from the forum, news landed that Spain's unemployment rate breached the 26% mark in the last quarter of 2012. There are now nearly 6 million people out of work in that country.

Kenny said, "It's important in terms of international reputation for contributor countries to understand their money is not wasted." Kenny had been talking about his nation's bailout program for its indebted banks.

Holland's Rutte said a debate should take place over what kinds of things should be done at the European Union level and at the national level. Italy's Monti appeared to indicate that he agreed with Cameron's promise of a referendum. "It is important whenever a people are asked a question about the EU that the question be the full question: Do they wish to be members of the EU or not?" Denmark's Schmidt also approved. "It is a perfectly legitimate question," she said.

On Day 2 in Davos, Cameron is stealing the show.

For now. Germany's Angela Merkel, the boss of Europe's largest economy, mostly refrained from hitting back at the idea of Britain leaving the EU during her speech today. She opted instead to talk about global economic growth and said Europe was making progress.

"You, too, have addressed competitiveness and see this as a central policy in the years ahead," Merkel said, referring to Cameron's remarks this week.